Religious Fundamentalism ~ Roots & Routes Of Deception
The circumstances of my youth exposed me to religious hypocrisy on a variety of different levels. Huddled in the gloom of their depressing fabrications, I had a sweeping transcendence of what was enshrouded in layers, a paradoxical abstract of a sinner’s roll call, to be played out on a stage too flimsy for our nature, and destined to fall.
The fallacious wisps drifting past were barely discernible in the windowless blast, while the saints sat enthralled with babes on their knees, looking blithely upon the altar of deceit. Those were simply gossamer phantoms, elfin dust devils swirling by on a summer’s eve, to divulge a swap of the feathers when the whirlwind subsides.
They are barely a drop in the bucket when laid alongside, the larcenous latitude and evil expanse, foisted and finagled on innocent spirits by destructive cults. They will encroach beyond boundaries and steal your free will. They will punish and burden you with an unbearably heavy load. They will cage you and strap you into a cognitive restraint, and they won’t let you go.
They hijack in strata and force you to the fringed edges of their fulminating masquerade. For doing this they expect unquestioning obedience, endless gratitude and monetary payback. It is no wonder they see themselves as superior, artful and clever.
Historical writings contain different versions of the seven deadly sins. The origin of one of the lists comes from the desert fathers, who lived a monastic lifestyle in the desert of Egypt, Palestine and Syria in the fourth and fifth centuries AD.
There were women living in the desert as well, who were referred to as the desert mothers. Many of the women occupied leadership positions and contributed equally to the teachings and writings of the era, but little was credited to them. The desert fathers are much better known because “the early lives of the saints were written by men for a male monastic audience”.
The Desert Father’s list of the seven deadly sins:
hubris, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath and sloth.
The Bible’s list of the seven deadly sins as listed in Proverbs 6: 6-19:
These sixe things doeth the Lord hate; yea seven are an abomination unto him: A proude looke, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood: An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief: A false witnesse that speaketh lies; and him that soweth discord among brethren.
The societal problem surrounding violence toward women and generalized misogyny had to start somewhere. It is contained in the conceptual framework surrounding the Biblical versions and interpretations of the creation of Adam and Eve. These puzzling versions of God’s creation of man, to include the sequence of how Adam and Eve were placed in the Garden of Eden, seems paradoxical and baffling in so many ways.
Religious fundamentalism from a literalistic perspective is steeped in contradiction, misogyny, and dominance over women. These illogical ideologies and fallacies persist in churches, politics, in family life, in business and in education. Christians are repeatedly told the Bible is the only and infallible word of God. However, there are now at least a hundred different versions and translations of the Bible in the English language alone.
We are told all these altered versions are meant to make the Bible more readable by taking away archaic wording. From my own perspective, it is an insulting rationale, and it is no wonder people reject religion, referring to it as myth and nonsense. Anyone who has any experience with some of these religious fanatics will find they are arrogant, will steal, lie, have extra marital affairs, bully, and present a most dichotomous view of what is good in this world.
One of the main and very altered translations, is the John Darby version of the Bible, which is the version embraced and followed by the Exclusive Brethren sect. A few years ago, I reviewed a columned table on the Internet comparing the original language of the Bible with the John Darby version, verse by verse. The changes are staggering. Anyone who goes over those changes with an open mind will understand the magnitude of what Darby did. The entire message of the Gospel was changed. John Darby, in the early to mid 1800’s cleverly crafted a document of Zionism to be incorporated as a mainstream Christian belief system.
Initially I saw these changes to the original bible as being crypto-Judaism, or a secret adherence to Judaism. It is difficult to differentiate the true motives of John Darby, because there is always an element of secrecy when it comes to deception. It is also difficult to understand the true differences between Zionism and crypto-Judaism. Much of the history of Israel has been shrouded in deception, politics, war, and money.
We must keep in mind, there is one body of Christ. There is no separation of the state of Israel, or between the Gentiles and the Jews. Those who believe in Christ are grafted into the body of Christ in unity, and love. Christ is the vine, and we are the branches. There is no separate viable vine, or branches, apart from Christ. Those who do separate themselves from Christ for whatever reasons, will wither and be thrown into the fire. Not eternal hellfire, but rather burned like dead branches are burned, according to the bible.
After we die, we are no longer physical bodies, but rather, are spiritual bodies. For people who do not believe in an afterlife, in their minds, they cease to exist. Therefore a physical and spiritual death is something they expect.
When the bible describes the second death in the lake of fire, it is talking about a spiritual death. So we should be careful not to attribute physical death to spiritual death, because they are not the same, and not in the same time frame. Nor do we know for certain how the final judgement will be carried out. In this regard, we must have faith, and trust Jesus, as He is the only one who can judge how people lived their lives, and whether or not they repented during their lifetime. God knows justice better than we do by far.
John 15:5-6
We all have a biological father. Some people are truly and legally adopted, in which case the adoptive father becomes the legal guardian and father. In other cases, a step father raises and provides for a child as his own, and he is deserving of a father’s role. Other than that, no one has the right to “pretend” to be a father, or lie about it, when there was no adoption, and they did not raise the child.
In my opinion, religious characters do not have the right to be called father. Other than a true parental figure, the only other father we have – is Our Father, who art in heaven.
The Darby doctrine was further spread through the Scofield Reference Bible and many other heretical writings. The notion of a pre-tribulation rapture as well as the theory of dispensational periods of governance stem from the Biblical changes Darby made. Considering the amount of time and effort Darby put into making so many changes in the Bible, it is prudent to question his motives. Why would anyone do that?
Do these arrogant individuals go over and change the works of Schopenhauer or Chaucer to alter the writer’s intended meaning under the guise of making the content more palatable to the readers? What kind of gall does it take to change the semantics of anyone’s writing, much less the Bible? John Darby was an aristocrat and freemason. He had his own deceptive agenda.
The implication is that Darby, with his brilliant understanding of semantics and eschatology, presented an improved worldview, for all the peons to understand. At the time of Darby’s writings, there followed great discord and schism among the Plymouth Brethren in England. There was so much friction they were forced to split up into sects, with the Exclusive Brethren taking things to the extreme in their literalistic and dogmatic following of the John Darby heretical version of the Bible.
They are special in God’s eyes, the chosen ones, which is a familiar theme in a percentage of cult religions. They are self-appointed, all superior, wonderful Christians. They claim to keep themselves separate and pure, because what they emanate is a sweet savory for God. They do not want their worship time to be tainted by the lower forms of humanity. They believe anyone among them who is not united with them in their cultish belief system, will cause the mist of purity going up to God to be defiled. Their doctrine of separation makes an exception for money. They will associate with anyone who has money regardless of their belief systems.
My initial understanding of the Book of Genesis (which I now know is a literalistic viewpoint) was that Adam was made first. God looking down upon him could see Adam was lonely in the garden all by himself. Therefore he decided to make a woman for Adam’s sake. Eve was then made from the rib of Adam, to join him in a lush and beautiful paradise on earth.
The very essence of the literalistic message surrounding the relationship between Adam and Eve is that she was an afterthought, or somehow a secondary, or lesser person than Adam was. She was created in order to meet the needs of Adam and make his life better. This version (10th-9th BCE) was actually coined as the “subordinating women account”.
The story goes on to describe Eve being tempted and deceived by the serpent, who was actually the devil in disguise. As a result, she convinced Adam to disobey God, and eat of the forbidden fruit. The fruit on the tree pertains to the knowledge of good and evil. When they did eat the fruit, they immediately became self-conscious of their nakedness, and started covering themselves.
To the higher intellect, this would seem to be metaphor with several layers of meaning. The embodiment of ideas and parable depict humanity in its infancy, spiritual childbirth, loss of innocence, a conscience, the knowledge of evil, the covering of sin, consequences of choices, and the foreshadowing of God’s plan for mankind’s salvation. It is as vast in scope and complexity as the book of Revelation is.
How could Adam (man) rule over the woman if he adversely affected the entire human race by failing to provide leadership on the single most important instruction given to them by God? If Adam was created to be the boss, he failed in his role with the first and only other human being he was put in charge of. I recently read 56% of North Americans believe the Adam and Eve story considering them to be real people. Apparently 44% of the group claimed to be absolutely positive.
For those who consider it a fable or allegorical literature, what does it mean? Where is the moral to the story? It is the basis for the Christian concept of the origin of man and woman on this earth. But how does one reconcile the contradictions? If it is true, it means the very first man on earth, could not control his wife, to include permitting her to lead him astray too. Yet paradoxically it is the basis for a male dominant belief system enmeshed into the fabric of our existence.
How is it we came to believe such dogma? Adam and Eve had to have been created as equals, as companions and helpmates to one another, and held uniformly responsible for their disobedience. Each had a very significant role to play, in a logical sense, surrounding procreation, as well as in the many parables, hidden meanings, prophecy, and rich metaphor used to enhance spiritual understanding.
The great gender confusion in the Adam and Eve story develops after they eat of the forbidden fruit and God outlines consequences. Before they ate the forbidden fruit, this verse describes the equality of the creation of man and woman:
Genesis 1:27 So God created man in his owne image, in the Image of God created hee him; male and female created hee them.
After they ate of the forbidden fruit the consequences for what they did is described in the following verses:
Genesis 3: 16-17 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrowe and thy conception. In sorrow thou shalt bring forth children: and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and hee shall rule over thee. And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eate of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake: in sorrow shalt thou eate of it all the dayes of thy life.
If taken literally the consequence of their sin is that men will rule over women. But given what is said in the following verse about the consequence to man, it is pretty clear, they don’t get to so much as enjoy the food they eat. They are destined to a life of misery. We all know by now, the chauvinistic literalists have hammered home the consequence for Eve, and have conveniently left out the consequence for Adam.
The important facet of the Adam and Eve story is to make sure the consequences are married as Adam and Eve were joined together as man and wife. They were joined together in disobedience as well. When God reprimanded Adam and Eve right after they ate the fruit, he was telling them they have now taken on knowledge of evil. He was giving the cause and effect that would end up changing their reality. The focus on men ruling over women is depicted as a result of the knowledge of what is evil, not good.
On the other hand to choose goodness is to esteem your partner equal or higher than you esteem yourself, avoid deceiving one another, and cultivate trust because there is still plenty of good. We get off track insidiously in almost imperceptible ways, get deceived into a labyrinth of distractions, or remain focused on the physicality of self, as opposed to the whole dimension. To navigate, we have to pay attention and know what the embodiment of goodness represents. The fruits of the Spirit are listed in Galatians:
Galatians 5:22: But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith.
When Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit from the central tree in the garden, it was a tree depicting the centrality of the growth and aliveness of both good and evil in the world. The discernment and characterization of good and evil will be the battle of our existence and acted out in the choices we make. The good is still there. There is nothing to indicate the disobedience of Adam and Eve caused the good to be taken away from the tree. The tree remains with the content and knowledge of both.
The knowledge of both good and evil was metaphorically in the fruit consisting of both good and evil. Evil was brought to the forefront of their conscience so they became aware of it. They are given the knowledge that good and evil coexist in this world. They must differentiate and make choices between the two. No one can change destiny, fate or prophecy, but given free will, people have a choice to carefully discern and choose what is good over evil. In fact many other verses in the Bible support this concept by telling us not to be overcome by evil, but to overcome evil with good. It makes sense because then we are cultivating good and causing it to grow.
As far as being ruled over by men, even if a woman is subdued and says nothing, her thoughts cannot be controlled. When one individual attempts to control and dominate another, it causes conflict, withdrawal and deceptions. It eventually erodes and destroys love and trust. Resentments simmer. Given the nature of human beings, many women who are controlled, dominated and mistreated – will find a way to get even. There is no mention anywhere in the Bible of God ever taking away an individual’s free will. It is men who do that. The very same men who claim to know what God is all about and what is best for us.
I do not deny that it is best for a family to have a competent husband and father as the leader. In a marriage women are supposed to be supportive, and cooperative in joint decision making. Husbands are also supposed to love, honour and be faithful toward their wives. In such cases, it is a mutually supportive relationship with the strengths of each adding to the glue that holds a family together. It is not a matter of superiority and domination.
Genesis, as the first book in the Bible, and Revelation, as the final dramatic plot yet to be unfolded in our existence here, are also the most veiled and perplexing. The beginning and the ending of God’s plan for the world are filled with more heretical suppositions, misunderstandings, fables, and man-driven misinterpretations, than any other literature in the history of mankind.
Instead of allowing a multitude of tautologies to dominate our belief systems, how can we interpret the meaning of the Adam and Eve story as we know it, or have learned it?
As a child when I first heard the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, it seemed to me there was a strong element of blame toward the woman. It was Eve’s fault. She was the conduit between the devil and Adam. She was the one who the serpent first approached. Once tempted, and with her womanly beguiling ways, she managed to deceive and lead Adam into carnal sin. What if it was the other way around and Adam had charmed and convinced her to disobey God? How much would our conceptual framework change if we thought differently about the origin of man and sin in this world?
If they were equal, and both ate of the forbidden fruit (which they did), they are equally responsible. Even for the fundamentalists, it should make no sense to blame a subordinate, for making big decisions that turn out badly. Ingrained ideas surrounding male dominance and leadership by reason of gender alone, combined with the refusal to accept responsibility for his own choices, while blaming the woman – is the foundational fallacy of religious fundamentalists.
It is based on a gender oriented bias, and false teachings in Biblical translation and interpretation. Religious fundamentalists will find every verse in the Bible pertaining to male superiority and dominance, take it out of context and use it to dominate women and children. They are the ultimate (false) authority in every decision to be made. As a result they subject innocent people to their autocratic self-aggrandized bad decisions. Bible studies and sermons preached to millions, with an emphasis on teaching women to submit to their husbands, without ever questioning or challenging them on important issues – are corrupted by men, not God.
The only way for Christians to reconcile the contradictions in the story of Adam and Eve is to recognize the literalistic elements, as well as to reference the original Hebrew lexicon. If looked at in such a way Adam means “man” and Eve means “living”. Everything from woman being taken from the rib of Adam, to the original sin and fallen nature of man was originally written in parables, with much deeper meanings and representations. Once we begin to acknowledge some of the conflict and cognitive dissonance thrust upon us by fundamentalist religious beliefs, logic soon supersedes the rather diabolical Neanderthal concept of male dominance.
What I glean from the sequence of events in the Adam and Eve story leads to an opposite and alternate theory. The choice of good over evil will not include dominance over women or the inability for man to live and enjoy a productive life. The bounty of a proliferous life is not found solely in material wealth. It is in having love, harmony and our needs met with an equal emphasis on physical and spiritual needs, as well as esteeming others equal to or greater than ourselves.
The only reasonable stance to take is that of promoting and teaching a more balanced gender perspective. Where there is equality, there is cooperation. Inequality contributes to conflict, income disparity, hinders women’s potential, punishes intelligent women, disregards what children are being exposed to, and is the basis for non-progressive male dominance. Male superiority leads to pride, which is not biblical.
Men who occupy positions of power with significant societal or government influence must be identified, exposed and stopped – if there is documented evidence they are contributing to, or persisting in the fundamentalist male dominance and punishment model toward women, or if they demonstrate a conflict of interest and abuse of power in the roles they are in.
Secular humanism establishes a baseline of moral terms to help set the parameters on human behaviors without being attached to any religion or belief in God. If secular humanism far supersedes the moral terms of a religious organization, it means the religious organization is a destructive cult. Religion is not supposed to become an oppressive blanket to cover mistreating people.
Religions that do not abide by the general and most basic laws of the land in their treatment of women, children and families, must be held accountable to the laws. Otherwise their criminal conduct is kept under cover and these fanatics have unhindered access and a sense of entitlement to harm innocent people. They are using religion to cover up their lawlessness. There is no end to the deception and exploitation, because they are tapped into what is evil and doing a feeding frenzy.
Off-base religious dogma has a greater depth of evil than the secular world has. If a religion taps into the knowledge of evil and feeds on it, they will cultivate a far greater evil than non-believers. They do so because they focus on and magnify what is evil and pass it off as truth.
They develop extremely distorted and deceptive methods of control. They influence and condone attitudes of male dominated power and control through deception and fear. They plot aggressive and devious trespasses into close family relationships. They will engineer a range of barbaric psychological tactics toward the destruction of family bonds. They use the bible, but they misrepresent scripture, and twist it toward their own agenda. They want to create an imprint in your mind. It takes years to get free of their brainwashing.
They ruthlessly rob fundamental freedoms and punish women and children without any accountability. It is all done under the guise of a secretive Christian sect. If an organization does such things, they are using religion as a cloak to cover up crimes against humanity, with a focus on the most important and foundational relationships. It is the family they rip into and declare war on. They claim a doctrine of separation from an evil world. It’s not the world that is evil. They are. It is a doctrine of divisiveness and cruelty.
No religion, doctrine, dogma, or regime has the right to take away an individual’s free will. God does not do that. Free will is central to the creation of man and woman. Not one of those arrogant men has the right to punish any person outside the parameters of the law. They are abusing power. Someone needs to intervene. There is language in the criminal code that describes it as a criminal offence to directly or indirectly prevent a person from doing what they have a right to do.
Any organization that believes they are above the laws of the land is a very dangerous organization, particularly for those who are under the cultish autocratic rule of abusive chauvinists. They will not permit you to have a voice, and they will not allow you to leave. God does not force us into any relationship.
Anyone who tells a child his or her parent is evil and wicked, is emotionally and psychologically abusing the child. Religious perverts need to be held accountable. Children and families need to be protected from the kinds of manipulative abuses embraced by cult practices. The damage they do is mind-boggling. Psychological and emotional abuse must be defined, and recognized for what it is because it is every bit as damaging to people, if not more so than physical assaults. I am lucky to have survived my ordeal with them.
There is no legitimate doctrine that condones and supports ripping families apart, and doing crippling psychological, emotional and spiritual damage. Who gives a damn what the Exclusive Brethren believe in? I don’t care if they believe in purple unicorns. They should be no different than anyone else who chooses to join a church or embrace a belief system. They can believe what they like. But they do not have the right to harm children and families. They have no right to be using charitable tax dollars to abuse women and children, gain money and power, and advance their nasty partisan political agendas.
What they believe in is their choice, and destiny. It only matters if it is taking away free will or causing people to suffer, especially children, families and innocent people. It crosses the line when they dictate the choices for others to include punishing other adults for infractions. Self-righteous judgment and punishment of others outside the parameters of the law, comes from a cavern of demons. It is pious tyranny rooted in false accusations and lawlessness. They rule over others but no one rules over them.
Some very different belief systems have been incorporated into mainstream religion in the past two hundred years. This literalistic dogma has been repeated and preached until fable has become the fabric of faith. When I first started researching all of this, the first thing I learned was the pre-tribulation rapture doctrine they preach was a Darby invention. Then I got to thinking, if that is obviously false, what else is false? Is the entire scope of it false?
What I learned through delving into it more, is many current mainstream religious teachings, were not part of the original Bible. The changes are not minor changes. They are all encompassing and extreme as well as being false. The following non-Biblical teachings have been incorporated into a Christian belief system. The entire scope of it is not based on Christian prophecy or eschatology. It is a cleverly crafted doctrine of Zionism. It is not the true gospel, but is a different doctrine entirely.
Dispensational teaching is something you might assume is fact if you listen to some preachers. It was another concept inserted into the Darby Bible translations giving a convoluted linear time line surrounding Biblical prophecy. Dispensational Biblical prophecy is not only from Darby, as it includes other heretical writings prior to Darby.
From the make-believe time line they created, they assume to know God’s plan and how it is unfolding. Their pessimistic preaching is not fact, nor is it in the original Bible. They came up with a seven-year tribulation, a pre-tribulation rapture, a lawless mentality, a single world leader antichrist, a one-world-order, separation of the State of Israel, a denial of the centrality of Christ, and a completely fictional account of God’s plans.
A dispensational belief system is the theory that provides them with the rationale and justification regarding the political involvement in the conflict in Israel. It permits them to create the framework for the terrible end-times tribulation they so graphically predict. It is a vision of horror, war, murder, torture, Christians getting persecuted, stung by locusts, and punished beyond our wildest imagination, as evil takes over the entire world. According to them, Satan will completely dominate the world during this time. Christians are hapless victims in the entire scenario, and had better keep a low profile so as not to be the first to get beheaded.
The terrible tribulation consists of a one-world religious order, and a one-world political order. They claim the political overtaking by evil forces is something no one can deter or influence. They tell Christians to stay out of politics. They do so because the leaders of the Zionist religious propaganda don’t want well-meaning people to stand up to their raunchy politics. They do not want to encounter resistance. They want us to believe what fits their agenda. This linear time frame is fear mongering and fictional. The world will not be overcome with evil. They just want to keep us scared so they can pitch the next fallacy, which is the pre-tribulation rapture.
The fundamentalist scenario makes Christians the bête noire rancor abhorred and disfavored by the malevolent and fiendish wicked world order. Once they have people fearing the coming tribulation and how nightmarish it will be, they throw out the pre-tribulation rapture as a life-ring. The levitation and ascension into the sky to escape the beast and persecution is a mesmerizing vision. They describe a global scene of complete chaos with blood running in the streets, and an absence of all that is good. As with all thought reform and brainwashing tactics, they scare people into an emotional crescendo, and then offer a bogus rescuer’s solution.
By the time you envision all the progressive horror, it is psychologically uplifting to opt for an airy elevation into the clouds. It’s a welcome abstraction if you haven’t fallen asleep listening to the sermon. The problem is, like most who portray themselves as heroic rescuers, you will soon find out they are not attached to the boat.
Some people do build castles in the clouds. Psychology calls it neurosis. The solution for the worldly woes of the saints is in a pre-tribulation rapture, gaining altitude with Jesus in the nick of time. This is not the official second coming, but rather an imaginary and secretive rapture for a chosen few.
Some denominations find the rapture supposition tough to fully espouse in this strange construct, so they adjust the belief to teach Christians will have to live through a portion of the seven-year tribulation. The modified belief claims they will get beamed up half way through the tribulation instead of at the beginning. This is called mid-tribulation rapture. There is a countdown for all the events of their invention marked out on a dispensational timeline. The countdown never turns out to be accurate, because none of these things ever actually happen.
Even when I was indoctrinated with some of this whited sepulcher, the pre-tribulation rapture was a major stretch. I wondered, “Why didn’t the Christians who got fed to the lions in the Roman coliseum get the cloud nine solution? Why wasn’t John the Baptist spared having his head put on a platter? How about all the Christians throughout history who have been tortured and executed?
Why would the end-times pre-tribulation rapture escape route only apply to the chosen ones among the last few billion people in the world? The world population estimates calculate more than a hundred billion human inhabitants since the beginning of man. The problem with the linear interpretation is you blindly walk off the ends of the earth, as opposed to grasping the unfolding of God’s plan for the entire history of mankind. It is highly unlikely anyone but God really knows the plan. Yet there are millions of men who claim to know every detail of His plan. In time, we may find out we have been deceived beyond our wrathful expectations.
One would think God’s conception must be wholly unconditional, and a vast plan for all humankind throughout all of history, not solely for the people at the end of the dotted line. I believe the true time lines are circular, not linear and that epochs change based on a dial, or a wheel as opposed to being plotted on a line. Based on the description of Ezekiel’s wheel, I envision axioms along the spokes of the wheel, anchoring and creating order in the unseen scope of our reality.
In addition to the tribulation fear, they have also created a real boogey-man called the antichrist. In truth, the Bible does not describe a single antichrist. It speaks of many antichrists in reference to those who reject Christ. However, the fundamentalists came up with a literalistic interpretation to include the creation of a single antichrist rising up to deceive us all. Apparently the antichrist will receive a massive blow to his head, and then he will provide a period of peace. But it is all a ruse. He will morph into the great and shining evil one who will fool everyone and take over the world.
In my opinion all of it is pure fiction, and is without any Biblical foundation. I honestly don’t think there is anyone who can fully understand the Bible. Snippets of verse can easily be taken out of context. It is turned into a fictional story, and used as a plot to control or lure people into a trap or ruse to get their money.
I believe we should study the bible for ourselves, remain humble, seek truth, trust God, and learn about it in a historical sense. We might come to an understanding that some of what is being predicted for the future, has already happened in the past.
Fear is not rooted in love, yet they are preaching and teaching fear at every turn. Evil does not have the power to overcome the good in this world. There will always be a balance of both good and evil. The male dominant fundamentalists want to groom us to be overtaken by evil, but it’s a hoax. The fundamentalist leaders are the ones who are evil, and they are the ones who want to overtake us.
The literalistic interpretation of the Bible might be the key component in the male dominant skewing of truth. They pluck verses out of the Bible and apply them in ways to serve and exalt themselves. Once I began to see through the deception and look up where they got some of these notions from, I would look at the verse and think, “That’s not what I get from it at all”.
If you don’t evaluate the source of where they are getting some of this false teaching, it means listening to and following the corruption of man, as opposed to gaining insight into the truth, and the incredible deception surrounding the Bible. What makes some men so overbearingly dogmatic as to fictionalize the Christian belief system, which is meant to be based on a personal choice, faith, free will, and the truth of God’s word – then treat their fiction as non-refutable fact to be crammed down our throats?
The literalistic interpretation of the Bible is at a loss when it comes to metaphor. Metaphor is an intrinsic element in language contributing to the conceptual framework and comprehension of ideas. A three year old will understand metaphor, “He’s pulling your leg”. “Don’t let him pull the wool over your eyes.” “He’s skating on thin ice”. We know these comments are representations of a larger concept.
Metaphor permits relevant and rapid association and visualization to enhance understanding. It is also intellectually stimulating adding spice, literary merit and decoration. Linguistic allegory, parable, and the many figures of speech serve to intensify the comprehension of compound characterizations within the kernels and points of language.
The best metaphors have many layers of meaning. As you begin to see the complexity of certain metaphors and the semantic layers, it is enlightening and thought provoking, as it is meant to be. The inherent genius in some metaphor is that some people may only see the top layer, yet it has a valid and edifying point. Another may see a secondary layer and broaden their understanding beyond their own expectations.
A third person may see how the meanings on each level contribute to a much larger understanding involving the spiritual world and the unfolding of a greater plan. The existence of metaphor or parables in the Bible cannot be refuted. The literalistic dogma basically ignores or redesigns what they don’t understand or what does not fit into their plans.
The eternal hellfire is also part of the false doctrine of fear. The fundamentalists will preach eternal hellfire and damnation for those who will not drop to their knees on the spot and accept Jesus as Saviour. But they are not sincere in wanting you to be saved. They want to emotionally prepare you to get fleeced. And this is only the beginning of how they are going to dupe you. The picture they paint is for naïve and trusting, head nodding, hobknobbing, good-hearted, not yet departed, well-heeled saints – to become a means to their monetary end.
They focus on fear and punishment and seem to think they are so pure in the eyes of God, they can stand up there and confidently rant and rave about what is going to happen to the rest of us. The Bible does contain metaphor and reference to a smoldering pit, which is difficult to interpret because it has a physical historical location as well as the spiritual connotations. It seems to be written in a spiritual context of demons, Satan and the false prophet.
However as far as the fate of humans, the Bible clearly states the wages of sin is death. There are numerous verses to reinforce this and absolutely nothing to refute it. In fact the Bible instructions surrounding those who harm and persecute us, is to pray for them, not for vengeance, but to pray for them to be blessed. The second death is referred to as the lake of fire in the book of Revelation.
We are not supposed to wish ill will upon anyone, even those who hate and persecute us, let alone envision them burning in hell forever. The Bible instructs us not to be overcome with evil, but to overcome evil with good. Where it talks about the time of God’s wrath on the wicked, we are advised not to envision, hope for or take any pleasure in it.
The fundamentalists mix up the wrath of God, with the persecution of Christians. They fail to differentiate the protection, promises, and salvation for true believers. They preach damnation, not salvation.
Fire and brimstone preachers, who stand proud on their pedestals, and pound out descriptions of an eternal hellfire, are definitely not thinking they will end up in hell. They get so revved up with the rhetoric they spew the accelerants out of their mouths.
They mean the rest of us, you and me. They are taking on the mentality they are so sinless and holy they can pour out the wrath of God upon the hapless congregation. Some of these holy-rollers might find their pants are on fire when the real judgment day rolls around. They will find out white is black and black is white.
The idea they can judge sinners, supports their chauvinistic approach to punishment and how it will be meted out. They firmly believe men rule over women at home and in the church. This off-base mentality is harmful and contributes to gender based hate crimes. Those who are trapped by these tyrants in victim roles cannot speak out. They have to extricate themselves first and many never do so because the autocrats have them nailed to the wall.
Those who escape or break free from the subjugation have to come forward for the sake of others. Deep-rooted emotional, psychological and spiritual abuse needs to be recognized as criminal behavior and banned. Religion can provide a dark cloak of secrecy and opportunity for vile conduct toward women and children while the perpetrators remain untouchable.
They consider emotional abuse and psychological coercion to be clever manipulation without a method for tracking the patterns. They target those who are weak and vulnerable. They will gang up on the victim. They bash those who defy them. They will not stop if the victim asks them to stop. They will only give it up if they are held accountable to some enforceable laws with some teeth in the wording. They are persistent, predatory, selfish, arrogant, insecure, controlling, cruel, and will not stop unless a higher authority stops them. They continue unhindered to freely destroy families and lives.
Since religious dogma in leadership adheres to the male dominant paradigm, often these men are self-righteously inclined to punish women. One thing about abusive men, they are looking for reasons to punish their victim. They will make false accusations, often character assassinations. If you disobey them, they will descend on you and accuse you of things you cannot defend.
If you look at the seven deadly sins as outlined in the Bible, a proud look, a lying tongue, minds that devise wicked imaginations, feet that run swift to mischief, hands that shed innocent blood, those who give false testimony, and those who spread discord among the brethren – It pretty much encompasses the attitude of the religious fundamentalists, to include the shedding of blood over the Israel conflict and countless other wars and atrocities carried out in the name of God.
In the song Spanish Pipedream by John Prine, the lyrics describe a soldier from Montreal going to a bar where he meets a topless dancer. “She danced around the bar room and she did the hoochy-coo”. They ended up going to the country to build themselves a home. One of the lines is “and try to find Jesus on our own.” The song probably has greater elemental truth in it than all the fundamentalists fire and brimstone church rants in the past two hundred years.
Separation of the State of Israel is central to the false doctrine. Once again the shifting to this belief system has caused nothing but conflict and strife. It is the essence of many church and political agendas. The Exclusive Brethren are a major political influence fuelling the conflict in Israel. The entire conflict revolves around Zionism, not Christianity. The New Testament Biblical truth tells us there is no separation, not only of the State of Israel but it lets us know, there is neither Jew nor Greek, bond nor free, male nor female because all are one in Christ. How is it the Gospel of love and peace turns into the gospel of destruction and war?
Every single nuance is contradictory. Those who deny and twist Bible verses have managed to do an incredible job of it. The Bible tells us how to discern good from evil. It says we will know them by their fruits. The fruits of the spirit are love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness and faith.
I know the majority of people who go to church do so with good intentions. I am sharing my testimony of victimization to emphasize how important it is to create laws that will prevent destructive cults from using religion as a cloak to cover up and justify criminal conduct.
The leaders of the Exclusive Brethren must be challenged and brought before the courts. They are imprisoning families and meddling in lives without respect for boundaries. Many innocent people have become targets of their destructive practices. They know people are far more vulnerable when there is family betrayal and breakdown. These practices should be criminalized.
They are networked full force into business, money and partisan politics. There is no respect for boundaries at any level. They are invasive, deceptive and meddlesome in all realms, while hypocritically claiming a doctrine of separation from the evil world. They have done far too much damage, and continue to do so without consequence.
It is time for the Exclusive Brethren organization to be challenged through sound intellect and reasoning, the truth, and the general laws of the land. Since they mix politics with business and religion, they defy democracy and they deny the truth of the Gospel. They worship money, not God. They magnify evil, not good.
Galatians 5: 1: Stand fast therefore in the libertie wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not intangled againe with the yoke of bondage.
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